On [this map] (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/HRR_1400.png), of the Holy Roman Empire in 1400, many of the small, independent states are geographically divided. Also, the Kingdom of Sweden owned parts of the German coast in the 17th century if I recall correctly. How was it possible to govern these areas?
1 Answers 2014-02-14
Hey /r/AskHistorians, I'm looking for fun, but insightful reads on the Race for Africa. I would really enjoy primary sources, like the diaries of the explorers involved, correspondence by governors, and possibly fiction accounts of exploring.
What do you experts have for me? Thanks!
1 Answers 2014-02-14
Was there a reason for that or was it just a coincidence
1 Answers 2014-02-14
Welcome to this AMA which today features eleven panelists willing and eager to answer your questions on High and Late Medieval Europe 1000-1450. Please respect the period restriction: absolutely no vikings, and the Dark Ages are over as well. There will be an AMA on Early Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean 400-1000, "The Dark Ages" on March 8.
Our panelists are:
/u/alfonsoelsabio Medieval Iberia: My area of focus is medieval Iberia, with emphasis on the Christian kingdoms. My work has primarily been in two fields: the experience of religious minorities and other subalterns in the latter half of the Middle Ages, and the social effects of Reconquista/war.
/u/facepoundr Soviet Union: Medieval Russia (Kiev Rus').
/u/idjet Medieval Western Europe | Heresy in High Middle Ages | Occitania: Medieval theory (political and economic structures), social history and heresy. With particular interest in France, very particularly Occitania.
/u/haimoofauxerre Early Middle Ages | Crusades: Memory, religious and intellectual history, apocalypticism, crusading, historiography, exegesis, 1000-1200 AD.
/u/MI13 Classical-Late Medieval Western Militaries: I can contribute to questions about medieval warfare, with a focus on the Hundred Years War and English armies of the late medieval period.
/u/michellesabrina History of Medicine: I specialize in medieval medicine (plague, surgery, female healers, schooling, etc.) but have also done extensive studies on female monastics such as Catherine of Siena and Hildegard von Bingen. This panelist will only be available for the first two four hours of the AMA – get your questions in early!
/u/Rittermeister Medieval Europe: My focus is on the development of the European aristocracy, especially the institutions of knighthood and lordship. I can answer general questions on social history, some economic history, some religious history, mainly monasticism.
/u/telkanuru Medieval History Social | Intellectual | Religious : I study the confluence of social and intellectual history in high medieval western Europe. More specifically, I specialize in the history of the Cistercian order and the Latin sermon.
/u/suggestshistorybooks Medieval Europe | Historiography: I can answer questions about medieval historiography, medieval England, medieval chronicles, Latin, and the history of the English language.
/u/vonadler Sweden | Weapons and Warfare to 1945: Post-viking medieval Scandinavia.
/u/wedgeomatic Thought from Late Antiquity to 13th Century: I focus primarily on the history of thought/religious culture with special emphasis on the 11th and 12th centuries and the Carolingian era.
Let's have your questions!
Please note: our panelists are on different schedules and won't all be online at the same time. But they will get to your questions eventually!
Also: We'd rather that only people part of the panel answer questions in the AMA. This is not because we assume that you don't know what you're talking about, it's because the point of a Panel AMA is to specifically organise a particular group to answer questions.
128 Answers 2014-02-14
3 Answers 2014-02-14
They didn't take any other of the Atlantic islands close to Africa or Europe, and I'm no farmer but this place (I'm on holiday in Tenerife) looks pretty arid
Edit: "islands" plural
1 Answers 2014-02-14
Were people of mixed race, black and white, treated the same? Or worse because they were black but had white in them?
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I noticed on the post about the drug lord that in his collection, he had pieces of artwork that were "illegal to own." What kind of cultural or historical significance would make an item illegal to own? What would be some examples of this?
7 Answers 2014-02-14
It seems to me that the situation between the two countries was similar, semi-Feudal, lacking extensive industry, just emerged out of a bloody civil war. How come Stalin's industrialisation was, in economic terms obviously not in human one's, a success while Mao's was so disastrous that the Chinese CP took him out of power?
1 Answers 2014-02-14
And as a side question, how did it became so popular in modern times?
1 Answers 2014-02-14
Today:
You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.
As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.
22 Answers 2014-02-14
1 Answers 2014-02-14
Agatha Christie once said that she never thought she'd be wealthy enough to own a car - or too poor to afford servants. Nick Carraway, the narrator in Gatsby, had a Finnish maid to keep house and cook for him. Mrs. Hudson in the Sherlock Holmes series performs the tasks of both landlady and cook for Holmes and Watson.
Nowadays it would appear obscene that two men living as roommates would pay someone to cook their meals for them, or that a single man living on his own would pay for a maid. What are the factors (both economic and social) that led to the decline of servants as a middle-class necessity? What tasks would your average middle class family's maid perform, and which would be left to the family?
Edit: re-phrased question
3 Answers 2014-02-14
I'm particularly thinking about Leviticus and all of the punishments that go with each rule, but when was the last time a group of people or a society followed the Bible's rules literally?
Some examples:
"You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material." - Leviticus 19:20
"Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death" - Leviticus 20:9
"If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death." - Leviticus 20:10
"If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." - Leviticus 20:13
"If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people." - Leviticus 20:18
"A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads." - Leviticus 20:27
1 Answers 2014-02-14
The Wikipedia page is very vague. So, I have a few questions that I hope can help focus this discussion.
Of course, any other more pertinent issues or interesting and relevant anecdotes can be entertained! I hope I worded this well enough. Edit: Formatting
1 Answers 2014-02-14
It seems strange to me that a European neighbour would be able to amass an army of such size without provoking an arms race.
3 Answers 2014-02-14
Also posted this in /r/history
I've always been very fascinated by relations between Asian nations/kingdom and the western powers. Can anyone provide me with important stories, exchanges, events, etc (or sources where I can read about them). I'd really like to know more about specific interactions between them from ancient times until around 1700. I've always seen it as interaction between 2 totally different worlds and it just amazes me how they interacted and know of each other. It must have been so odd knowing there were huge powers so far away going about their business just like you were. I'd really like more info about their trade, diplomatic relations, cultural exchanges, and knowledge of each others customs and ways of life.
Some examples of things I already know about and would like to know more about include:
-Roman/Asian relations
-Marco Polo and his discoveries
-The Silk Road
-Alliances, visits, etc between the two worlds
1 Answers 2014-02-14
Did Judaism get the idea of monotheism from Akhenaten? How much of eastern Med Monotheism can be traced to the Amarna heresy?
4 Answers 2014-02-14
There is no doubt that the modern perceptions of knights are grossly romanticized. Today, we see movies and games about one hero taking down droves of men with his sword gleaming in the sunlight. However, I'm pretty sure that was not the case. If knights weren't used as noble heroes but not as cannon fodder like the conscripted peasants they found alongside, what was the general purpose or job that a knight was expected to fulfill?
1 Answers 2014-02-14
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Was there anything similar to the white feather?
Was there a significant difference in attitude between the North and South?
Were certain demographics treated worse if they did not fight i.e. African Americans after the Emancipation Proclamation?
2 Answers 2014-02-14
